Feb. 24, 2010
No. 19 GONZAGA (23-4; 12-0 WCC) @ SANTA CLARA (3-24; 1-11 WCC)
Thursday, February 25 - 7 p.m.
Leavey Center (4,500) - Santa Clara, Calif.
PORTLAND (16-11; 5-7 WCC)* @ SANTA CLARA
Saturday, February 27 - 2 p.m.
Leavey Center (4,500) - Santa Clara, Calif.
WATCH LIVE: SANTACLARABRONCOS.COM
GAMES #28/29: The 2009-10 regular season concludes this weekend at the Leavey Center in Santa Clara. A series of promotions and events surround final weekend of home hoops. Nationally-ranked Gonzaga University visits Thursday night at 7 p.m. followed by a date with the University of Portland Saturday at 2 p.m.
SENIOR NIGHT!: Saturday is `Senior Night' - final-year Broncos' Maggie Goldenberger, Kimee Goeggel and Rhianna Faithfull will be honored prior to the game with the Pilots. Geoggel is a fifth-year senior, Goldenberger a true-senior and Faithfull is a three-year student-athlete who is graduating early this spring.
PROMOTIONS/EVENTS!:
FAN APPRECIATION CLINIC FRIDAY NIGHT! Youth basketball players (ages 5-13) are encouraged to come to the Leavey Center in basketball attire Friday, February 26 from 6 p.m. -7:30 p.m. for a FREE instructional clinic. All participants will receive free tickets to Saturday's game with Portland.
BRONCO BINGO THURSDAY VS. GONZAGA! Bingo cards will be available to the first 100 fans Thursday night. `BRONCO BINGO' winners will receive official Santa Clara women's basketball rally towels.
FREE RAFFLE VS. PORTLAND All fans Saturday can pick up a FREE raffle ticket at the main entrance, to chances to win autographed t-shirts, basketballs, Ruff Rider gifts and more.
SATURDAY IS THE BAWSI `DAD'S AND DAUGHTERS EVENT' There will be a pregame social in the Leavey Center team room for BAWSI (Bay Area Women's Sports Initiative) - a key community partner of SCU basketball. Honorary coach, SCU alumnus and former San Francisco 49er Brent Jones will be a guest speaker.
For more information on the events above call (408) 554-5018.
TV/RADIO/INTERNET: A live video broadcast of both games will be available on Santa Clara's official athletics website (SantaClaraBroncos.com). Sam Farber (play-by-play) will call the action courtside from the Leavey Center. Additionally, free live scoring can be accessed via GAMETRACKER on (SantaClaraBroncos.com).
GAME NOTES
# Jennifer Mountain is in her second season as Santa Clara head coach
# Mountain was Gonzaga's top assistant for seven seasons
# SCU and USF are positioning for the No. 7 or No. 8 seed in the upcoming WCC Tournament (March 5-8)
# Gonzaga is ranked No. 19 in the latest AP Top 25 Poll
# The Zags can clinch the WCC regular season title with a win Thursday night
# Portland needs to sweep USF and SCU this weekend for a chance at the tournament's No. 4 seed and a first round bye in the tournament
# There is also a good chance Portland and SCU would play in the tournament's first round
# Santa Clara is trying to snap a 7-game losing streak, dropping a 58-52 decision to USF last time out
# The Broncos lead the league in 3-point shooting (6.4 p/g)
# Alyssa Shoji is one 3-pointer away from cracking the WCC's all-time top 10 list for 3-point baskets in a single-season (she currently has 74, which is 5th in SCU history)
# Lena Gipson's 13 double-doubles this season ranks No. 20 among all NCAA players
# Gipson also ranks No. 28 nationally in rebounding (10.1 p/g)
# Saturday, Feb. 27 the SCU program will recognize its final-year players on
`Senior Night,' Maggie Goldenberger, Kimee Goeggel and Rhianna Faithfull
# SCU freshman guard Meagan Fulps - the top rookie scorer in the WCC (11.4 ppg) - did not play against USF is expected to miss the rest of the season with injury
# Gonzaga is unbeaten in WCC play (12-0) and have won its past three games by an average of 29.6 points
# Portland finished 2nd in the WCC last season and qualified for the WNIT
# Gonzaga soundly beat SCU 81-43 Jan. 28 in Spokane
# Gonzaga leads the WCC in scoring, 80.7 ppg, while only allowing opponents to score 59.4 ppg
# The Zags have won four of the past five WCC regular season titles - Santa Clara won the league in 2005-06
# Portland trailed in the second half but rallied for a 73-65 win over SCU Jan. 30
# UP NEXT: The WCC Championship Tournament in Las Vegas, March 5-8
LAST TIME OUT: The University of San Francisco women's basketball team ended a 17-game losing streak, knocking-off visiting Santa Clara 58-52 Saturday night at War Memorial Gym in San Francisco. Santa Clara (3-24; 1-11 WCC) had led by nine in the opening moments of the second half. Lena Gipson made eight field goals and scored 21 points to go along with 15 rebounds. USF (5-24; 1-11 WCC) used a 19-4 push in the second half to lead for the final 11 minutes. Rheina Ale led all Dons in scoring with 17 points and Katy Keating made a pair of 3s. The Dons avenged a 54-47 loss to the Broncos at SCU's Leavey Center on January 23rd. If the two teams end the regular season tied in the WCC standings, conference tournament seeding will be decided by RPI. Both schools will host No. 21 Gonzaga and Portland next weekend. The Broncos established leads of six on a number of occasions in the first half. All nine of Maggie Godlenberger's rebounds came before the intermission and Gipson had 10 first-half points.
RECENT RESULTS/UPCOMING GAMES:
L, 67-58 vs. SAN DIEGO (2/6)
L, 73-61 @ LMU (2/11)
L, 65-51 @ Pepperdine (2/13)
L, 58-52 @ USF (2/20)
vs. GONZAGA (2/25)
vs. PORTLAND (2/27)
WCC STANDINGS:
1. Gonzaga (12-0)
2. St. Mary's (10-2)
3. Pepperdine (8-4)
4. San Diego (6-6)
5. Portland (5-7)
LMU (5-7)
7. Santa Clara (1-11)
USF (1-11)
WCC TOP 10: Scoring: 9th- Shoji (14.1) ... Rebounding: 2nd- Gipson (10.1) ... FG%: 3rd- Gipson (.535) ... Assists: 8th- Shoji (2.7) ... 3FG%: 10th- Shoji (.330) ... 3FG: 1st- Shoji (2.7)/7th- Fulps (1.6) ... Blocks: 9th- Gipson (0.7) ... Offensive Rebounds: 2nd- Gipson (3.0) ... Defensive Rebounds: 2nd- Gipson (7.1) Minutes: 2nd-Shoji (36.4)/6th- Fulps (33.6)/10th- Gipson (31.8)
NCAA LEADERS: Double-Doubles: 20th - Gipson (13) ... Rebounding: 28th- Gipson (10.1) ... 3FG: 24th- Shoji (2.7)
WCC 2010 ZAPPOS.COM BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS (LAS VEGAS, NV):
Tickets for the 2010 Zappos.com West Coast Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas are now on sale. The championships will span 4 days - March 5-8, 2010 - and include 14 men's and women's games, with tickets starting at less than $10 per game. The 2009 WCC Basketball Championships were the most highly anticipated championship event in Conference history, reaching a sell out two weeks prior to the tournament last March. The event set championship records for single session attendance (7,845) and overall championship attendance (33,320).
Friday, March 5
Women's First Round Session Game 1 (5 vs. 8) - 12:00 PM
Women's First Round Session Game 2 (6 vs. 7) - 30 mins after Game 1
Men's First Round Session Game 1 (5 vs. 8) - 6:00 PM
Men's First Round Session Game 2 (6 vs. 7) - 30 mins after Game 1
Saturday, March 6
Women's Quarterfinal Round Session Game 1 (5/8 vs. 4) - 12:00 PM
Women's Quarterfinal Round Session Game 2 (6/7 vs. 3) - 30 mins after Game 1
Men's Quarterfinal Round Session Game 1 (5/8 vs. 4) - 6:00 PM
Men's Quarterfinal Round Session Game 2 (6/7 vs. 3) - 30 mins after Game 1
Sunday, March 7
Women's Semifinal Round Session Game 1 (5/8/4 vs. 1) - 11:30 AM
Women's Semifinal Round Session Game 2 (6/7/3 vs. 2) - 30 mins after Game 1
Men's Semifinal Round Session Game 1 (5/8/4 vs. 1) - 5:30 PM (ESPN 2)
Men's Semifinal Round Session Game 2 (6/7/3 vs. 2) - 7:30 PM (ESPN 2)
Monday, March 8
Women's Championship - 12:00 PM (ESPNU)
Men's Championship - 6:00 PM (ESPN)
*Portland will play at USF on Thursday, February 25